Interesting(?) stuff about the Million Dollar marquee

[WEKurtz]

Hi friends.

Were you ever curious about the shows advertised in the Million Dollar
marquee in "Blade Runner"? I've tracked some interesting(?) info...

Previous facts:

- The marquee can be seen in two different scenes: The one in which
Pris takes refuge at Bradbury's gateway (and subsequently meets
Sebastian) and the one in which Deckard enters the Bradbury to track
down the last replicants.
- One of the well-known continuity goofs of the movie is that the
marquee lettering changes in the same scene. When Pris access
Bradbury's gateway, we can read "ANDRES GARCIA / EL 7 VIDAS", but when
Sebastian arrives, the marquee says "LOS MIMILOCOS MAZACOTE Y
ORQUESTA".
- The Million Dollar theater (307 S. Broadway, L.A.) was specialized
in latin shows. It was built in 1918 by Sid Grauman at the
then-astounding cost of one million dollars. It was the first movie
palace built in Los Angeles. This elaborate gothic/baroque theater was
really huge, containing 2,345 seats. Recently it was used as a church,
but since the church relocated to another theatre (The State), the
Million Dollar Theater has been definitely closed.

Did you know?

- "ANDRES GARCIA" and "EL 7 VIDAS" is the protagonist and title of a
1980 mexican movie (which can be translated as "The '7 Lifes' One").
"LOS MIMILOCOS MAZACOTE Y ORQUESTA" is just the name of a mexican
indie music band who made a live performance during Blade Runner
shooting.
- Publicity photos taken on the set allow to read the entire marquee,
including round sides, in the first case. Both say "PEDRITo Fernandez
/ PEDRO ARMENDARIZ / EN MAMA SOLITA". "Pedrito Fernandez" and "Pedro
Armendariz" are the main stars of another 1980 mexican movie, "Mama
Solita" (which can be translated as "Lone Mom").

You can get info on these movies at IMDB.com:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338431 ("Siete Vidas, El").
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277815 ("Mama Solita").

None of them are *exactly* blockbusters...

In the other hand, I contacted "Los Mimilocos Mazacote y Orquesta" via
email commenting them that their name had been immortalized in a
cinematic sci-fi masterpiece and, despite they are very conscious
about this fact, it's not the center of their lives. :^)
The band promotes his works in some Internet websites specialized in
independent music promotion, such as:

BANDS411.COM - http://bands411.com/mimilocos/band.cfm?bandID=5670&CFID=199229&CFTOKEN=84564375
DMUSIC - http://mimilocos.dmusic.com
ALTERNATIVEPROGRESSION.COM -
http://mimilocos.alternativeprogression.com
SPUNDCLICK.COM - http://www.soundclick.com/bands/3/mimilocosmazacoteyorquesta.htm

In these sites you can DOWNLOAD FOR FREE all the 14 songs of their
last album, "Este es el Dolor" (translated, "This is the Pain") in MP3
format (128 Kb encoding) and their respective lyrics!!

That's all.
WEKurtz--------------------------

[Gnomus]

Post by WEKurtz
- The Million Dollar theater (307 S. Broadway, L.A.) was specialized
in latin shows. It was built in 1918 by Sid Grauman at the
then-astounding cost of one million dollars. It was the first movie
palace built in Los Angeles. This elaborate gothic/baroque theater was
really huge, containing 2,345 seats. Recently it was used as a church,
but since the church relocated to another theatre (The State), the
Million Dollar Theater has been definitely closed.

Just to clear something up. This makes it sound like the Million Dollar
was built to show movies for the Hispanic audience, which is not the
case. The audience at that time was predominantly white. It wasn't
until decades later after the whites moved out of downtown and the
Hispanics moved in that they started booking live Latino acts and
Spanish/Mexican movies.

On another note, a 2,345 seat theater is certainly large, but by no
means "really huge." There are dozens of larger theaters in the country
(and dozens more that have been torn down). Radio City Music Hall
(which I understand no longer shows movies) seats 6,000. The largest
functioning movie theaters in the country right now seat 5,000 and
5,100. The latter is in New York and I have no info on it. The 5,000
seater is the Detroit Fox, which was restored several years ago.
Unfortunately I've never gotten to see inside (other than photographs).
The lobby is six stories high and features its own organ. For the
past few years, according to their website, the Detroit Fox has been the
top ticket selling theater in the country.

Gnomus

[WEKurtz]

Post by Gnomus
Just to clear something up. This makes it sound like the Million Dollar
was built to show movies for the Hispanic audience, which is not the
case. The audience at that time was predominantly white. It wasn't
until decades later after the whites moved out of downtown and the
Hispanics moved in that they started booking live Latino acts and
Spanish/Mexican movies.
On another note, a 2,345 seat theater is certainly large, but by no
means "really huge." There are dozens of larger theaters in the country
(and dozens more that have been torn down). Radio City Music Hall
(which I understand no longer shows movies) seats 6,000. The largest
functioning movie theaters in the country right now seat 5,000 and
5,100. The latter is in New York and I have no info on it. The 5,000
seater is the Detroit Fox, which was restored several years ago.
Unfortunately I've never gotten to see inside (other than photographs).
The lobby is six stories high and features its own organ. For the
past few years, according to their website, the Detroit Fox has been the
top ticket selling theater in the country.

Thank u for the corrections, Gnomus!!

WEKurtz------------------

[Father Viv]

"WEKurtz" <***@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:***@posting.google.com...
<uno snip>

Post by WEKurtz
"LOS MIMILOCOS MAZACOTE Y ORQUESTA" is just the name of a mexican
indie music band who made a live performance during Blade Runner
shooting.

<uno mas snip>

Post by WEKurtz
In the other hand, I contacted "Los Mimilocos Mazacote y Orquesta" via
email commenting them that their name had been immortalized in a
cinematic sci-fi masterpiece and, despite they are very conscious
about this fact, it's not the center of their lives. :^)

Now this is interesting. I too looked into this, but I came to the
conclusion that the current band called LMMyO had in fact taken their name
from the film, and that the LMMyO featured on the marquee were a different
outfit altogether (I had presumed a Latin/Salsa big band).

However, if you have contacted these guys and they say they the real
enchillada then we have to take them at their word. But if I find their
average age is less than 40 I will have to call their bluff!

Nonetheless, good work Colonel!

[WEKurtz]

I came to the conclusion that the current band called LMMyO had in fact
taken their name from the film, and that the LMMyO featured on the marquee
were a different outfit altogether (I had presumed a Latin/Salsa big band).
However, if you have contacted these guys and they say they the real
enchillada then we have to take them at their word. But if I find their
average age is less than 40 I will have to call their bluff!

Mmmm, I'm afraid you're mistaken. LMMyO was an *alternative rock* band
yet in the 80's. If you google a little, you will find bios of some of
the musicians who left or incorporated the band along more than two
decades.
Obviously, the band took his long name as a joke: Recalling a
"Latin/Salsa big band", they wanted to break the style everybody
associate with latin bands.

Nonetheless, good work Colonel!

Oh, thank you.

WEKurtz------------------

[Father Viv]

Post by WEKurtz

I came to the conclusion that the current band called LMMyO had in fact
taken their name from the film, and that the LMMyO featured on the marquee
were a different outfit altogether (I had presumed a Latin/Salsa big band).
However, if you have contacted these guys and they say they the real
enchillada then we have to take them at their word. But if I find their
average age is less than 40 I will have to call their bluff!

Mmmm, I'm afraid you're mistaken. LMMyO was an *alternative rock* band
yet in the 80's. If you google a little, you will find bios of some of
the musicians who left or incorporated the band along more than two
decades.

OK, fair enough. My own googling has been somewhat frustrating due to my
poor Spanish comprehension (I speak a little Spanish, but not enough to
grasp any joke, subtleties or idioms*) but I trust your judgement ("You're a
dedicated man!").

Post by WEKurtz
Obviously, the band took his long name as a joke: Recalling a
"Latin/Salsa big band", they wanted to break the style everybody
associate with latin bands.

Yes, that would make sense.

Post by WEKurtz

Nonetheless, good work Colonel!

Oh, thank you.

De nada!

Rob

*or... ah... idioms

[Netrunner]

Post by Father Viv
Nonetheless, good work Colonel!

Indeed, good work to all. Fascinating stuff. (Must try to
incorporate extra info into the FAQ.)

Netrunner

[j***@gmail.com]

I just watched the movie for the first time, and this topic caused me some cuiriosity. Being a spanish speeker I could do some extra research:

I believe the marquee is anouncing two different acts, one being "Los Mimilocos", and the other, as stated by ims..., a Salsa-like event with a live orchesta playing.

There was an Argentinian band (apparently a duet) called "Mimilocos", that was active in the 80s-90s. There is a full album in youtube, which does sound quite 80's:

However, I've only found references to 2 albums, Trulepa (1986) and Mimilocos (1991):
https://www.discogs.com/artist/3905024-Mimilocos
http://significadosinvisibles.blogspot.com.es/2012/11/mimilocos-trulepa-1986.html

Blade Runner was filmed in 1981, so I find it very unlikely that five years before of their <possibly> firs published album, this Argentinian band could have booked a medium-large LA theater that apparently targeted a Mexican audience, based on the other movies anounced in the marquee.
It could be a name coincidence, or maybe they chose their name after watching the movie, who knows...

There is another, more recent band called "Mimilocos Mazacote y Orquesta". For what I've found they are from Peru, and their name is clearly a tribute to the film:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=89733

As a Mexican, Los Mimilocos sounds to me like a typical name for either a local stand up comedy act or a 60's Rock n Roll band. This is just a guess and I've found no references whatsoever, so it seems like it will remain a mystery for some more time who are Los Mimilocos that were inmortalized by Blade Runner =)

[r***@gmail.com]

los mamelucos is Portuguese for slave hunter. (Which is what a blade runner really is. Los mimilocos is likely a subtle twist on this term.

[m***@2020.pt]

As a European Portuguese, I'd never heard of "mameluco", which is now a purely archaic term. Maybe some member could confirm if the word is still used in Brazil, otherwise this should go down as a great coincidence.

[i***@gmail.com]

As a spanish speaker I've always been fascinated by the name on that marquee, but I'm afraid the band you found truly took the name from the movie. Their style is just too experimental and modern and would probably sound right within the context of the movie (they are mostly unknown and I had not heard of them until today).

The movie band name implies a very old style of music. Mazacote is an old type of classic cuban salsa, and any band name including the name "orchestra" is likely to be a dance hall kind of band like those in the 50's. Here a sample of some band doing Mazacote in the present:

Mimilocos on the other hand is suggestive of slapstick comedy and has always been a weird name to put next to Mazacote. Mimilocos also sounds like a word made up in Mexico, which is weird used in conjunction with what sounds like a Cuban show. Anyways... I always assumed the whole name was made up, but where the name came from was always intriguing, and it still feels like a mystery to me.

[Vicente Ibarra]

In fact , Mameluco is a spanish word refered to a silly person but the original meaning refers to a slave soldier of the egyptian army . Napoleon used them on Spanish War of Succesion (1701-1713)

[RoyBoy]

Wow, totally missed the continuity goof... guess I gloss over other languages more than I realize!

- RoyBoy

[Víctor Vallejo C.]

Post by RoyBoy
Wow, totally missed the continuity goof... guess I gloss over other languages more than I realize!
- RoyBoy

WeKurtz , just wanted to thank you about the information , I was sure once I read about the One Million Dollar Marquee , changes in a book from Spain, and have that idea in mind. I was lucky to find your publication. Thanks again and good luck. Greetings from Mexico.